Brush and spindle construction for pan greasing machines



Aprl .3, 1951 A. B. PEFFER 5 9 BRUSH AND SPINDLE CONSTRUCTION FOR PAN GREASING MACHINES Filed July 20, 1949 Patented Apr. 3, 1951 UNITED STATES OFFICE BRUSH AND SPINDLE CONSTRUCTION FOR PAN GREASING MACHINES and Emil Schwartz Application July 20, 1949, Serial No. 105,'730

This invention relates to pan greasing machines such as are used in bakeries where large numbers of baking paris must be brushed clean and reased. In machines of this kind, the brushes are generally mounted at the tops of a series of suitable spindles by means of which the brushes can be rotated. Conduits are provided for supplying grease to the bristles and the pans are customarilv arranged in groups which can be picked up as a unit, inverted and pushed down over the tops of the brushes. If the pans are forced down too vigorously, they will unduly distort and even break the bristles and in addition will bunp more or less violently against the heads of the brush blocks all oi which causes damage necessitating frequent brush replacements. This is a more or less constant source of annoyance and expense to the bakeries.

With the foregoing in mind my invention will be better understood because it relates to improved brush and spindle Construction by means of which the difficulties referred to as Well as others are completely overcome.

Specifically recited, the objects of the invention include 'the following:

1. To provide a brush and spindle Construction having means for preventing the p ans froni damaging the bristles and the upper ends of the brush blocks 24 To provide means for receiving the thrust of the pans and transmitting it to the ends of the spindle-s rather than to the ends of the brush blocks;

3. To provide an arrangement of transverse grease deliver passages which are formed as open Channels in the head of the brush block together with means for protecting these channels against damage from the pans and also against clogging;

i. To provide an improved Construction for mounting the brushes on the tops of the spindles by means of which the brushes can he effectively rotated by the spindles without wobbling thereon and without the development of lost motion as between the spindle and the brush; and, in general to strengthen and simplify brush and spindle Construction as well as to increase its life and reduce its cost.

How the fcregoing, together with such other objects as may appear hereinafter or are incident to my invention, are attained is illustrated in preferred form in the accompanying drawing wherein Figure 1 is a vertical section through a portion of a pan greasing machine illustrating my improved brush and spindle construction;

6 Claims. (Cl. 91-39) Figure 2 is an enlarged perspective View of one of the brushes;

Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective View of one of the spindles; and i Figure 4 is a perspective View taken from below illustrating the pan abutment piece employed in my invention.

As will be seen by referring 'to the drawing, I have illustrated but one spindle 5 with a brush 6 mounted thereon. The spindle is mcunted in a suitable support i with the lower end of the spindle projecting into an aperture in the support which acts as a hearing. This is clearly shown in Figure 1. Exterioriy the spindle is provided With a pinion 8 which meshes with a reciprocating rack 9 by means of which the spindle and the brush are rotated first in one direction and then in the other.

lnteriorly the spindle is provided with a longitudinal grease duct or passage i@ to which grease from the reservoir ll is delivered via the connecting passage !2 in the support 'i under the control of suitable pump and check valve mech anisms !3 and s respectively, the details oi which will not be more fuliy set forh because, in and of themselves, they form no part of the present inventicn. In fact, all of the Construction so far described is familiar in the art and has been referred to merely for the purpose of more clearly describing my invention as will now appear.

Near the upper end the spindle 5 is provided with a brush supporting collar !5 upon which the brush block I 6 is adapted to seat. Above the collar !E the spindle is preferahly formed with a square end IT although it is obvious that some other shape could be employed--the purpose being, as will further appear, to prevent relative rotation between the spindle and the brush block.

The brush block is provided with an aXial aperture !8 which is also square to cooperate with the square end l'" of the spindle. In the head of the block I provide suitable transverse grease passages in the form of open channels or ducts IS which lead the grease outwardly toward the bristles, the outer portion of the top of the block being slightly tapered or beveled as at 26! to provide a surface over and around which the grease can flow to reach the base portions of the adjacent bristles as will be seen most clearly in Figure 2. At this point it should be explained that the bristles do not extend completely over the top of the brush but are fanned outwardly from this surface 2& so as to leave a central dishshaped pocket 2l at the top of the brush.

The upper end of the spindle 5 does not project entirely through the brush block but terminates a short distance therebelow as shown in Figure l. After the brush has been placed in position I introduce the readily removable pan abutment piece indicated as a whole by the reference character 22 (see Figur-e 4). This pan abutment piece has a stem portion 23 which projects into the upper end of the passage It in the spindle. t also has a shouldered portion 2 l immediately above the portion 23, which shouldered portion is aiso square to cooperate with the square interior of the axial opening in the brush block. The underface of the shoulder-ed portion rests upon the top of the spindle 5. Near the top of the shouldered portion just under the enlarged portion 25 the abutment piece is provided with a series of transverse grease passages 25 in alignment with the transverse passages !9 in the top of the block. A longitudinal grease passage 2? is also provided which connects the transverse passage 26 with the longitudinal passage i@ in the spindle.

All of the parts just described are constructed and arranged so that the grease coming up, through the longitudinal duct or passageway m can be delivered to the transverse passageways 25 and i@ and then to the base of the bristles on the head of the 'block as already described.

It would be obvious that the abutment piece 22 will receive any bumps which may be developed by too vigorously placing the pans over the brush and transmit them to the upper end of the spindle thereby protecting the bristles and the head of the block against damage from contact with the pan. Furthermore, the head 25 of the ahutment piece performs an additional function, namely, that of covering the upper face of the Channels i?) so as to prevent any small particles of bread or dough from falling into and clogging the Channels.

Attention is aiso directed to the fact that the Construction is exceedingly simple, rugged and positive in its action. The fiat faces on the spindle, the fiat faces in the block and the flat faces on the abutment piece cooperate to prevent relative rotation between these several parts; the arrangement being such as to prevent all bling or looseness on the spindle. Wear between the spindle and the block is absolutely eliminated and the brush is protected against damage both to the top of the block and to the bristles and, for this reason, will last a much longer period of time than any brushes heretofore available in the art. In addition, when replacement nally becomes necessary, the worn brush can 'be Very quickly removed and a new one installed.

In conclusion I might say that while I prefer to employ a square spindle with a square hole in the block, yet it is perfectly obvious that other flat sidedarrangements can be employed or even that an irregularly curved surface could 'oe utiiized if desired just so long as relative rotation between the parts is prevented.

I claim:

1. A brush and spindle Construction for pan greasing machines, comprising a spindle having a longitudinal grease passage, a brush block supported on the upper end of the spindle and having an axial opening into which the end of the spindle projects, and a pan abutment piece supported on the spindle, said abutment piece having a longitudinal grease passage in alinement with the longitudinal passage in the spindle and a transverse grease passage for delivering grease from the longitudinal passage to the brush.

2. A Construction in accordance With claim l Wherein the block is provided with a transverse grease passage cooperating with the transverse passage in the abutment piece.

3. A Construction in acoordance with claim 1 wherein the spindle top, the axial opening in the block and the pan abutment piece are congured to prevent relative rotation 'between the parts.

4. A Construction in acoordance with claim 2 wherein the transverse grease passage in the block is formed as an open channel in the head of the block and wherein the abutment piece is provided with an enlarged head portion overlying said open channel.

5. A brush and spindle Construction for pan greasing machines, comprising a spindle having flat sides at its upper end, a brush supporting collar, and a longitudinal grease passage; a brush block having an axial spindle-receiving opening with flat sides adapted to cooperate with the flat sides on the spindle; said block being arranged to rest on the supporting collar with the top of the block lying in a plane above the upper end of the spindle; a transverse grease passage in the block; and a pan abutment piece having a stern projecting into the longitudinal grease duct of the spindle, a shouldered portion a'dapted to rest upon the upper end of the spindle, a longitudinal grease passage registering with the longitudinal passage in the spindle, fiat faces on the shouldered portion adapted to cooperate with the flat faces in the spindle-receiving opening, and a transverse grease passage registering with the transverse passage in the block.

6. A Construction in accordance with claim 5 Wherein the transverse grease passage in the block is formed as an open channel in the head of the block and wherein the abutment piece is provided with an enlarged head portion overlying said open channel. l

ALRID B.

BEFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the of this patent: 

